It’s that time of year again where we break out the old chestnut about defending a championship as being the toughest thing to do in sports. This coming Saturday, December 9, will see the Seattle Sounders attempt to win their second straight MLS Cup, and in order to do that, they need to go back to the scene of the crime to face the same team that they beat last year. Crime is perhaps an adequate word to use here, as the Sounders basically stole the cup from Toronto last season in what was one of the dullest MLS Finals in history.

That game would almost certainly have been won by Toronto were it no for a save by Stefan Frei that was one of the highlights of a poor game, if not even the entire season. The MLS odds are too close to pick a winner, but I think we are going to see a top quality game this time around, as these are a pair of teams with some real offensive talent at their disposal. Can Toronto FC use home field advantage to win their first title at the second time of asking, or will Seattle repeat as champions?

Toronto FC vs Seattle Sounders MLS Odds & Cup Final Game Info

Why bet on the Toronto FC

There has been a lot of talks all year about the possibility of this Toronto team being the best group of players to have ever graced an MLS field. They certainly went through the regular season in that manner, winning the Supporter’s Shield, the trophy for best regular season record, in a rather comfortable style. That said, this was a team that appeared to have run out of gas a little in the past month or so, as goals seemed a whole lot harder to come by than they were earlier in the season. Although, a win in the finals will put the Toronto F.C as the best team in MLS history.

They were still able to survive the playoffs, though, and did so by shutting things down defensively, with their best performance coming in the semi-final against the Columbus Crew, where they had to go on the road for the first leg without Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore. They got the 0-0 tie there before winning 1-0 at home to advance. You need to like their chances at home, where they were close to unbeatable all year.

Why bet on the Seattle Sounders

The Seattle Sounders breezed through the postseason, but can perhaps count themselves a little fortunate. They never looked to be in any danger in the opening round against the Vancouver Whitecaps, and probably thought that they would be facing the #1 ranked Portland Timbers in the Western Conference Final. The Timbers were hammered by injuries and were unable to get past the Houston Dynamo, who won in Portland to move on.

The Conference Final was as one-sided as we all thought it would be, with the Sounders winning 5-1 on aggregate. Seattle did what they needed to do to move on, and have been in a rich vein of form in the closing stages of the year. They too have a number of game changers on the field, with Clint Dempsey the man most likely to make things happen for the Sounders.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

The one thing that we can almost certainly guarantee is that this will be a better game than last year’s final. I don’t see Toronto passing up the chance a second time to win it all in front of their home fans.